


Late Night Nuisance

by KokoroWorlds



Series: Between The Lines [1]
Category: Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z, Powerpuff Girls
Genre: Bleeding, Butch stop staring into Kaorus window, F/M, Gen, Good guy Butch, Haha they both have feelings, His civilian name is Sasuke, Injured Kaoru/Buttercup, Injury, Kaoru needs to sleep but won't, Sounds like a you problem (feelings), Stitches, all he needs are some scrubs, and don't know what to do with them, and i mean spiky hair, because his parents were nerds, greens - Freeform, vague descriptions of death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:37:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24530149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KokoroWorlds/pseuds/KokoroWorlds
Summary: The night after a big battle is the hardest.But maybe, it could be just a bit easier.
Relationships: Butch/Matsubara Kaoru
Series: Between The Lines [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1772800
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Late Night Nuisance

The night after a big battle is the hardest. 

A normal human would say it's the next morning, waking up with aches and pains they hadn't known they had. Advanced healing really was a blessing. Sleeping helped speed it up. 

No. It was getting comfortable, dealing with the pain she had now, in addition to potential nightmares. 

Thus Matsubara Kaoru - known to the public at large as Powered Buttercup- tended to spend the time working. No need to worry about waking up in pain, she had her pain killer schedule set from the first dose. No need to worry about tearing out the stitches in her sleep when she was awake. If anything reopened she could just close it back up. 

Well. Most anything. 

As healed as the back of her head probably already was, if she broke open those stitches she'd need help putting them back. Doing it in the mirror was a stupid idea that she'd been unfortunate enough to try first hand. 

That attempt at avoiding a Momo lecture had really backfired. A two hour rant over a fifteen minute fix. She knew Momoko meant well at least, even if the expression of that concern was annoying and unnecessary. 

Yeesh. Like a lecturing grandparent. 

Carefully, Kaoru leaned back in her office chair, staring up at her apartment ceiling. Thinking about Momoko lecturing her wouldn’t help her finish up this stalking case she'd spent the past two hours working on. With the evidence she'd gotten, the guy would be in jail for at least a year, with a permanent restraining order against him. 

Poor kid, the freak even watched her through her window. Made Kaoru glad she was on the third floor- was that a knock?

Weird... Probably just her imagination. Or maybe just her neighbors stumbling around, a five month old baby really didn’t allow for sleeping at one in the morning- ack! 

That knock was louder and  _ very clearly _ on her window. She hits her poor knees on the bottom of her desk, jostling still bruised and healing tissue. At least whatever it was let her know it was there instead of breaking open her window... 

Gritting her teeth to deal with the fresh waves of pain helped somewhat as she forced herself to walk over to the window, her body tensed to leap right out and into the second fight that day (technically the first). Hopefully whatever tracked her this time was easily dealt with so she could move again without property damage and thus another lecture. The slight green glow she could see wasn't very promising though. 

It took both of her hands to open up the window. If the thing out there was anything like what the three of them had fought earlier then she'd just burn it. No questions asked. Just turn the body to ash and flush it down the toilet. Screw looking for more clues as to what the hell these things were. If it was human at one point then she'd be doing it a- Oh. 

"Oh. It's you."

"You know, that's not typically what a woman says when a handsome man shows up outside their window."

Her adrenaline rush faded as she halfheartedly glared at the infuriating man floating outside. Spiky black hair gently waved in the night breeze, amused glowing green eyes meeting hers. She wasn't about to say it out loud, but she was glad it was just him. 

Butch Jojo, her 'counterpart' and 'former' enemy. 

"Why the hell are you outside my window at one in the morning? How do you even know where I _ live _ ?"

Regardless of it being just him, she honestly couldn't recall telling him anything about her living arrangements. Not even on a sleep deprived coffee driven day. 

He gave a nonchalant shrug. 

"Chief was worried and my shift’s over. He gave me your address and asked me to check on you."

Riiiiiiight. While that did sound like Chief, some things still didn't add up. 

"And that's why you're transformed and floating outside my window. Instead of knocking on the door like a  _ normal person _ ."

Completely ignoring her jab he looked her over, expression going from a smirk to a concerned frown. 

"You're bleeding."

Without looking away from him she quickly felt the spot on her hip that his eyes rested on. Warm wet fabric. Dang it. 

"Freaking hate it when they have claws..."

Before she could slam the window down on his hands, Butch forcefully pushed himself through the much too small opening. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Kaoru winced at the creak her poor window frame gave. That would be a lovely conversation with her landlord. 'A coworker decided to surprise me by coming in through the window, and it sorta broke.' Yeah. Like that would keep her from losing her deposit. 

Fortunately he got through without breaking anything. Unfortunately she had a Rowdyruff in her apartment. 

"Get out!"

Instead of obeying her reasonable, hissed command, he pushed past her, to the open med kit sitting on her bed. Picking it up, he gave her a look that reminded her of the many nurses she'd encountered over the years; slightly exasperated and highly concerned. 

That expression unnerved her enough to let him get close and lift up her shirt. 

"Wooo, that's a nasty one. How'd it manage to get this close...?"

Shaking off her nerves she glanced down at the once stitched and stapled wound. The staples were still there, holding the edges together, but the stitches had ripped out. Minus the bleeding, it looked a lot better than it had initially. 

"I tackled it to give Blossom an opening..."

Blossom had then frozen it in a block of ice for her to shatter. That had been  _ very _ satisfying. 

"Yeesh, do you have a death wish? Hold still."

A vague sense of deja vu broke through her irritation. 

She'd never planned for him to figure out who she was, even before she knew he was the annoying teenager she'd fought years ago. And he'd never intended for her to find out about him either, but fate clearly had other plans. 

Or was it their own stupidity and impulsiveness?

The sterilized needle pierced her skin as she gritted her teeth against the new, stinging pain. 

It had been a drug bust. She'd been transformed as Powered Buttercup, and he'd been the annoying police officer Ojo Sasuke . Chief had thought her going in as a hero was over the top. It nearly wasn't enough. If Butch hadn't been who he was she might have lost, as hard as that was to admit out loud. 

The bust had been her first good lead on whoever kept setting the horrifying mutants loose in the street. And it had been a good one, or at least would have been if the dealers hadn't been killed shortly after they got there. 

Torn to bloody pieces by some used-to-be dogs they'd apparently bought to defend them- going on the disobedience they had likely been rejects. She hadn't even thought before rushing into the poor excuse for a fight to try and save the idiots and her lead. 

She'd underestimated how many creatures there were, and their strength. As embarrassing as it was, one of them got a good hit on her head and knocked her clean out. Not for long of course, never for long. 

However that had been  _ more _ than long enough for Butch to decide to jump in and transform in front of her. 

When she was unfortunately knocked out her own transformation had vanished, leaving Detective Matsubara in Powered Buttercup’s place. 

_ "Do you have a death wish?!" _

Rich coming from the man with the balls to invite himself into her apartment. And cut off her coffee intake after an all nighter. And keep her from literally punching a guy out during interrogation. And- you know what, why  _ hadn't _ she punched _him_ yet?

She was just tired enough to consider it. It couldn't be because they were coworkers. She'd punched plenty of them. Nor that she was scared of him- he'd never hurt her-... 

Yet another unexpected thought. Kaoru scowled, vainly attempting to figure out where it came from. 

"Aaand done. A perfect job if I do say so myself."

Thankful for the distraction from her thoughts, she studied his stitch work. A little crooked but not bad overall. 

"Better than I would've done..."

Kaoru would have to give him that. No need to inflate his ego too much, otherwise he wouldn’t fit back through the window. 

Smiling slightly at the image, she turned back to the desk, shooing him with one hand while attempting to sit back down. 

"Now shoo, I'm busy-"

Butch gently pulled the chair away with one hand, the other holding her mostly uninjured arm. 

"Uh-uh, Chief sent me because he was worried, and it looks like he was right to be."

"I'm fine! Just- let me work dang it!"

"Nope, you're going to bed. Walk, or I'll carry you."

Seriously? Searching his face she saw he _was_ serious... Grumbling she headed to the bed and sat down next to the med kit, packing it back up. 

A flash of light signified Butch turning back to Sasuke- and what do you know, he's still in uniform. He probably wasn't lying about Chief sending him then. 

Still didn't explain the window thing. 

He took the now closed kit and tossed it on her desk, pushing her under the covers before she could yell at him for messing with her papers. 

"Oi, I can tuck myself in..."

"Maybe so, but with me here you don't have to."

His eyes linger on her desk for a moment.

"Which case were you working on anyway?"

Right, the stalker case that she'd like to get back to finalizing. 

"Ironically a case that had a creep looking in a kids window."

Sasuke blinked, clearly confused. 

"How is that ironic...?"

Expression flat she gestured to her still open window.

"You tell me, creep."

It took him a minute, looking between her and the window. Realization dawned and he went to the window with a childish huff, closing it. 

"I was worried, alright? I saw the aftermath during cleanup. It wasn't a pretty sight."

Yeah. It wouldn't have been. 

"Does it help if most of the blood wasn't mine?"

Turning back he gave her a frown. 

"No. No it doesn't Kaoru."

Sitting back up she winced, and shrugged. 

"Sounds like a you problem."

A deep sigh accompanied him sitting on the bed. 

"Why the hell do you care so much anyway? Chief asked you to check on me, not mother me to death."

His mouth opened, a surprising blush dusting his cheeks, but before he could make a sound an alarm went off. On her phone. Which was on her desk across the room. Moving to get it got her another nurse look, maintaining eye contact as he got up and grabbed it himself. 

"What's this for? You weren't plannin' a late night stake out or anything, right?"

Ugh. How stupid did he think she was?

"Course not. That's the alarm letting me know it's time to take more pain pills, idiot."

A slight grimace appeared on his face, quickly replaced by a mischievous look that fit him much better than the weirdly worried looks he'd been shooting her. 

"Ah, good. Where are they?"

Now confused herself, she gestured to the bottles on her desk. He picked each one up, taking out the right dose before pausing on the last, untouched one. 

"A sleeping aide....? Shouldn't you have taken this sooner?"

She tensed. 

"I... Don't like how they make me feel. Too vulnerable."

As past experience had shown, it was best for her to be vigilant or risk being snuck up on. Even in the relative safety of her apartment. 

His eyes softened as he took out the dose. 

"Got anything to take 'em with?"

"That thermos has some coffee..."

Yeah, she’d expected that withering look. 

"... Or the apple juice in my fridge could work..."

Smiling, he left in search of her kitchen. Kaoru rubbed her eyes with a sigh, grateful that she was in pajamas at least. Going on his current attitude he'd probably insist on helping her get dressed, and she didn't need him seeing all her injuries, thank you very much. Let alone her scars. 

"Okay, I got the juice. Ready to take your meds?"

Lowering her hands she looked at him. Really looked at him. 

"... You never answered. Why do you care?"

Huh. Butch blushed a bit. He handed her the pills and juice. 

"Look Kaoru. Do I really need a reason beyond annoying you?"

She raised an eyebrow. 

"Sasuke, you're acting like a nurse. All you're missing is some scrubs."

Huffing, he sat back down on the bed. 

"I can't annoy you if you're dead Kaoru. Just take your pills."

"I'm not taking the sleep ones."

"Why not?"

Squinting, she tried to figure out which ones she didn't want. 

"I told you, they make me feel vulnerable."

Which ones were they..?

"Why would they? You're safe here, aren't you?"

Kaoru tensed. She'd already said too much... His eyes were searching, taking in her reaction. 

"Even if you aren't I can stay till you wake up."

She looked at him, surprised he wasn't pushing. 

"I... You'd do that?"

On a normal day she'd fight this tooth and nail. But after the day she'd had, combined with his genuine tone and weirdly worried eyes, not to mention he was a crappy actor...

"Yeah, 'course I will. Can't have m- er, Chiefs favorite detective all sleep deprived."

That settled that. Lips quirked up, she popped the pills in her mouth and washed them down. 

"That was easier than I thought..."

Laying back down, she smirked at him. 

"Gotta keep you on your toes. Time to pay up, and stay awake alllll night. And I know you have TWO shifts tomorrow~"

His expression goes sour. 

"Ugh, don't remind me. That's the last time I play poker with the squad..."

Snickering, she pulled the covers up to her neck. 

"It was Go Fish. Poker was banned after the Incident."

"Go Fish with  _ stakes _ Kaoru. Go Fish with stakes."

Sasuke got off the bed and plopped himself in her office chair. 

"I still don't know how I lost." 

"Its cuz you're a _ loser _ ."

Back to an amused expression. 

"Sleep Kaoru. You can mock me in the morning."

True. Especially if he was still there come morning. 

"Turn off the main light, but leave on the desk lamp will ya?"

With her arm over her eyes she listened to the flick of the switch, and the click of the lamp. Interestingly, not the creak of him sitting back in the chair, so she peeked out to see him still standing. Leaning over her with a neutral expression. 

"What...?"

Mischievous again. Great. 

"There's one last thing you need. May I?"

"Sure?"

He leaned closer, closed his eyes, and gave her a peck on the cheek. 

"There. Your goodnight kiss~"

"... You suck."

She closed her eyes again, smiling slightly. 

"Sheesh, I said mock me in the morning. Night Kaoru."

"Night idiot."

For the first time in a long time, she slept peacefully. 

Not that she'd tell him that. No, his ego was bad enough as is.

**Author's Note:**

> Simple and sweet, at least I think so. Longer than my last oneshot, so score! I hope you enjoyed, leave a comment please!


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